Would you still like Dragon Ball if it hadn’t been retooled into a martial arts story?

[Cipher]

Seconding others: Had it not pivoted its focus and hook, I don't think it would have run much longer period, instead joining the ranks of Toriyama short works, at maybe a handful of volumes.

I'd still like it, in that case, but probably wouldn't be able to have as much to say about, or get as invested in it!

The first arc is essentially just Dr. Slump with martial arts trappings, and while that's all well and good, Slump had just finished a decade-long run and I don't think a kind of lesser follow-up (on the comedy front) had legs nearly as long.

[sangofe]

The first arc was the worst one so no probably not.

Really? I love that arc.

Same. It's fun, adventurous and light.

[Kunzait_83]

One word, two letter answer to the thread's central question:

No.

Furthermore, like...yeah? I'd have eventually gotten into it because of the characters, not just endless fighting.

Except you almost certainly would've never heard of it at all in the first place in this alternate scenario.

[BWri]

The first arc was the worst one so no probably not.

I think I agree. I always go back and forth with arc #1. It would have probably gone the way of Dr. Slump as a small series with a cult following. Toriyama-san's comedy is an acquired taste.

For me, the adventure arc is actually what grabbed me as a kid. And I like wacky stuff like Ranma 1/2 too, so I think I would have kept watching. Yamcha, Bulma, Puar, and Oolong were a good crew for Goku so more of that would have been nice.

I most likely wouldn't have been as invested as I am now. I'd definitely not have many reasons to visit the message boards since I don't visit Ranma 1/2 message boards. It would've been something I liked as a kid that I let go as I grew up.

Yuyu Hakusho also came to the States closer to the time Dragon Ball Z did. So if anything Yuyu Hakusho would have been the big hit for a forum that seems to mostly have people based in the US

There'd certainly be no YYH without Dragon Ball. This is coming from someone who's top 5 anime series include YYH and HxH but not Dragon Ball.

[Metalwario64]

The martial arts are what drew me in, because I was a massive Street Fighter fan as a kid and I saw the martial arts dougis on the characters and thought "this might be cool like Street Fighter!".

[DragonBallFoodie]

There's no way to tell, honestly.

But I think Toriyama's art and comedy may have been sufficient for me to enjoy the saga.

[JulieYBM]

One word, two letter answer to the thread's central question:

No.

Furthermore, like...yeah? I'd have eventually gotten into it because of the characters, not just endless fighting.

Except you almost certainly would've never heard of it at all in the first place in this alternate scenario.

If there is anything life has taught me it is that wild shit happens without you ever foreseeing it.

I mean, Christ, I assumed that I'd be dead by now. Instead I grew tits and a personality.

[ABED]

I wouldn't say his comedy is an acquired taste as much as his comedy might not translate culturally and the the parody of a folktale doesn't necessarily scream mass appeal even if it were from a well known artist.

[WittyUsername]

To be clear, I’m aware that Dragon Ball wouldn’t have become the phenomenon it ended up becoming if it didn’t turn into a battle manga. I’m just wondering how many people would still have enjoyed it.

[precita]

I think it would have been a short manga/anime. Probably another obscure 80's anime most people would never know about besides hardcore fans.

I mean how is it different than all those other 80's anime/manga that were never licensed in the west back in the day and people only discovered when the internet became a thing?

[FoolsGil]

If I could be so bold, One Piece is probably the best scenario Dragonball could have become if it hadn't been retooled into a martial arts story. One Piece is definitely about the journey like Dragonball tried to be. In this best case scenario, yes I'd like it.

But, if Dragonball was like its first arc, and the first half of the RR arc and stuck to its guns? I'd probably never heard of the show, so no.

[Goku da Silva]

Toriyama originaly intended DB to be an adventure story with elements of martial arts but it wasn't making to much succsess, so he's editor asked him to change towards more fights and he came up with the tenkaichi budokai idea, them he swiched back to adventure with the Red Ribbon arc. I don't know if he was persuaded again by his editor to go back to full action... The thing is, i think it made even better the combination of both and in my opinion that's why Dragon Ball (not including Z) is truly a masterpice in comic book history. Responding to the title question i would probaly liked because the kernel of DB lies there.

[Majin Buu]

If I could be so bold, One Piece is probably the best scenario Dragonball could have become if it hadn't been retooled into a martial arts story. One Piece is definitely about the journey like Dragonball tried to be. In this best case scenario, yes I'd like it.

Agreed. This hypothetical version of Dragon Ball would probably look something like One Piece.

That being said, Toriyama isn't as ambitious a storyteller as Oda, so he probably couldn't pull off something like One Piece without scaling back on the numerous plot threads that make One Piece engaging; because Toriyama tends to falter when the story details start getting complex.

[Koitsukai]

Aside of the fact that DB wouldn't have lasted much longer, no. I wouldn't have cared enough to get invested it on it.

[precita]

Most people naturally crave action and violence. The reason Dragon Ball stood out so much at the time is people were seeing brutal fights, blood and death in what was a "children's cartoon" and as kids/young teens we were all shocked and impressed by it compared to the other cartoons we had grown up watching. Remember back then there was no internet and no way to get exposed to shows outside of what was airing on TV at the time, so it was also pretty much, "all there was."

In Japan it would have probably been a success as they have many comedy/slice of life anime there, but it probably would have ended in 2-4 years or so.

[BWri]

If I could be so bold, One Piece is probably the best scenario Dragonball could have become if it hadn't been retooled into a martial arts story. One Piece is definitely about the journey like Dragonball tried to be. In this best case scenario, yes I'd like it.

Agreed. This hypothetical version of Dragon Ball would probably look something like One Piece.

That being said, Toriyama isn't as ambitious a storyteller as Oda, so he probably couldn't pull off something like One Piece without scaling back on the numerous plot threads that make One Piece engaging; because Toriyama tends to falter when the story details start getting complex.

I don't think it would resemble One Piece at all. The early structure of DB showed that Toriyama-san preferred more "episodic" scenarios. Which makes sense as that was the trend at the time. From its very inception OP was focused on longform storytelling.

You can look at Toriyama-san's overall series track record to see that there's very little interest in telling a consistent longform story or exploring the world and characters in a way OP does it.

Plus OP has a lot of combat and a detailed multi-layered combat system.

[Majin Buu]

I don't think it would resemble One Piece at all. The early structure of DB showed that Toriyama-san preferred more "episodic" scenarios. Which makes sense as that was the trend at the time. From its very inception OP was focused on longform storytelling.

You can look at Toriyama-san's overall series track record to see that there's very little interest in telling a consistent longform story or exploring the world and characters in a way OP does it.

Plus OP has a lot of combat and a detailed multi-layered combat system.

Hence why I said Toriyama would have to scale back a lot of One Piece's story complexity for that to work. With that, I can see Toriyama making something like One Piece that's far simpler in terms of storytelling. Would it be engaging? Maybe, but probably not enough to last as long as the Dragon Ball we got, let alone One Piece proper.

[BWri]

Hence why I said Toriyama would have to scale back a lot of One Piece's story complexity for that to work. With that, I can see Toriyama making something like One Piece that's far simpler in terms of storytelling. Would it be engaging? Maybe, but probably not enough to last as long as the Dragon Ball we got, let alone One Piece proper.

I'm disagreeing with the whole premise. I don't think DB would resemble One Piece in the slightest. They're built entirely different. I can't see Toriyama-san even making something like that, even a simplified version.

I can see something like Inuyasha though, since early DB has a similar feel to it.

[Majin Buu]

Agree to disagree then.

[jjgp1112]

If I could be so bold, One Piece is probably the best scenario Dragonball could have become if it hadn't been retooled into a martial arts story. One Piece is definitely about the journey like Dragonball tried to be. In this best case scenario, yes I'd like it.

Agreed. This hypothetical version of Dragon Ball would probably look something like One Piece.

That being said, Toriyama isn't as ambitious a storyteller as Oda, so he probably couldn't pull off something like One Piece without scaling back on the numerous plot threads that make One Piece engaging; because Toriyama tends to falter when the story details start getting complex.

I don't think it would resemble One Piece at all. The early structure of DB showed that Toriyama-san preferred more "episodic" scenarios. Which makes sense as that was the trend at the time. From its very inception OP was focused on longform storytelling.

You can look at Toriyama-san's overall series track record to see that there's very little interest in telling a consistent longform story or exploring the world and characters in a way OP does it.

Plus OP has a lot of combat and a detailed multi-layered combat system.

Eh, I think early DB's more episodic nature was just Toriyama ironing out the kinks and easing into more serialized storytelling. Toriyama said that he specifically wanted his next long term manga to be serialized because having to come up with a new scenario every week for Dr. Slump was absolutely brutal. An overarching storyline enabled him to coast a little bit. So even if it stuck to adventure as its tone, DB would've moved past its episodic style into more longform storytelling sooner rather than later.